Good morning, and welcome to Thursday. If you haven’t posted a picture of the Giralda Avenue Umbrella Sky Project, do you even live here?

JK. As always, the Miami subreddit perfectly captured how we’re all feeling at the neverending stream of umbrella pics on our Insta and Facebook feeds lately.

Stay tuned next week, when we’ll have the download on what the Umbrella Sky Project actually is and how it came to be.

You know what happens first, though? The deadline to register to vote in the Aug. 28 election. That deadline is July 30, and if you’re not registered, if you’ve moved recently, if you’ve changed your name, or if you want to register with a party so you can vote in the primary, you’ve got to do that on the county elections website before the deadline. You can also check your current registration there.

Now, on to something that is just as confusing as voting in local elections can be…

ARROZ CON MANGO.

WHAT IS IT? An extremely confusing street grid that’s organized differently from the rest of the county and confusing AF to navigate if you didn’t grow up in the city, or don’t pass through it often.

HELP ME UNDERSTAND. Ok, so. Hialeah is one of the oldest cities in the county (incorporated in 1925!) and when the grid that we all know and love—where street numbers, y’know, stay the same and you can tell exactly where a spot is just from the address—was being developed it didn’t extend into Hialeah. The city has always been super independent (they have their own library system, police and fire departments) so it’s not surprising that they went ahead and developed their own grid.

GOT AN EXAMPLE? Basically, Northwest 54th Street becomes Hialeah Drive in the city limits and acts as the north/south dividing line. Northwest 47th Avenue (a.k.a Palm Avenue) is the east/west divider and things go from there.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE 305

Take that, suckers. Yesterday Miami Beach expanded the city’s ban on plastic straws and plastic stirrers to city property like sidewalk cafes, parks, and piers, which majorly expanded the scope of the ban because it includes spots like Ocean Drive, famous for its massive alcoholic drinks served on the sidewalk and drunk through a straw. There’s a big push against all kinds of single-use plastics right now, but straws are especially under fire because they easily slip into storm drains and end up in the ocean. (Miami Herald)

It’s easy being green. Earth lovers (that should be all of you!), rejoice: Miami finally has a bulk refill grocery store that will let you stock up on everything from laundry detergent to tea, using your own reusable containers. That means fewer single-use plastics, which are basically the bane of the earth, especially in coastal cities like our own. (Prism Creative Group)

It’s lit. But not in a good way. Someone set 40 golf carts on fire Tuesday night at the Melreese golf course, the spot where David Beckham wants to build his Major League Soccer stadium complex. Just last week, the City of Miami Commission agreed to allow voters to decide in November whether to allow the property to be developed for that, but there’s a lot of public opposition to the plan, so obviously the fire is raising all kinds of questions. Surveillance cameras caught a man watching the golf carts burn, and police want to find out who he is because they think he’s a suspect. (Miami Herald)

How about winning a game? The Miami Marlins are last in Major League Baseball for game attendance, with an average of 9,762 people coming to each game. Desperate to change that, they’re making a big marketing push to bring more locals to the stadium. We’re not exactly sure who they were marketing to before, but we’re all about keeping it local, and all about this plan. (Miami Herald)

“TollGate.” Yesterday Florida Democrats led by state Rep. Kionne McGhee called on Governor Scott to suspend all tolls through the SunPass system until it’s fixed, saying that the Florida Department of Transportation knew users were being double-billed and did nothing about it. For the last few weeks the customer service site hasn’t been working, nor has the call line or app. Inaccurate charges are being posted to users’ accounts, and basically, it’s a big ol’ mess – that we’re still paying to use. (Tampa Bay Times)

One step forward. Hotel housekeepers are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault – about 40 of 70 hotel workers in Miami Beach surveyed said they’d been assaulted or harassed on the job. And now Miami Beach is taking an important first step to protecting them: requiring that all hotels and hostels give the workers who serve in guests’ rooms a panic button that they can use in an emergency. The city is calling them “safety buttons.” (Miami Herald)

Going to one of these? Take us with you! Email a pic to [email protected] or tag @thenewtropic on Instagram. See more upcoming events on our events page, and add your own events with a New Tropic membership.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT..

Yesterday we decided to try out the Instagram Stories question function, and invited you to ask us whatever questions you have about how this newsletter happens every day. We’re answering a bunch of them there, like “Do you stay up all night waiting for updates?” and will be taking questions for a few more hours today, so head to our Insta profile and ask away!